Monday, August 4, 2008

Changing Hearts & Minds . . . 11 Million Households at a Time

Former PFLAG president Samuel Thoron and his wife, Julia (pictured) have authored an extraordinarily powerful letter that is being mailed to 11 million households in California ahead of the November vote on Proposition 8, the initiative to roll-back marriage equality in the state and deny same-sex couples legal recognition under the law.

"Forty-six years ago I married my college sweetheart, Julia. We raised three children -- two boys and one girl. The boys are married, with children of their own. Our daughter, Liz, a lesbian, can now also be married -- if she so chooses.

All we have ever wanted for our daughter is that she be treated with the same dignity and respect as her brothers – with the same freedoms and responsibilities as every other Californian.

My wife and I never treated our children differently, we never loved them any differently and now the law doesn't treat them differently, either.

Each of our children now has the same rights as the others, to choose the person to love, commit to and to marry."

All of us at PFLAG are enormously proud of Sam and Julia for their amazing work on the ground in California, and for their eloquent words on behalf of the LGBT community.

To read their full letter, click here. Then, if you're a California voter, sign the Vow to Vote Nopledge and encourage your family, friends and neighbors to do the same.